Work manipulating attachment for sewing machines



Dec. 13, 1960 J, cs 2,964,000

WORK MANIPULATING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed April 30, 1959INVENTOR. Joseph G. Rakacs WITNESS BY MMQWW W .M

TTORNEY Patented Dec. 13, 1350 WORK MANIPULATIN G A'ITACHll/IENT FORSEWING MACHINES Joseph G. Rakacs, Cranford, N.J., assignor to The SingerManufacturing Company, Elizabeth, N.J., a corporation of New JerseyFiled Apr. 30, 1959, Ser. No. 809,963

3 Claims. (Cl. 112-135) This invention relates to work manipulatingattachments for sewing machines such as a ruflling attachment, and moreparticularly, to a novel and improved micrometer adjusting device forregulating the extent or" work manipulation, as for instance, regulatingthe fullness of the ruflie produced by a ruflling attachment.

It is an object of this invention to provide a novel and improved meansfor frictioning a micrometer adjusting screw in a sewing machineattachment such that the adjustment may be accomplished readily andconveniently by the machine operator without the danger of accidentalmovement out of selected adjustment in response to operational vibrationand the like.

With the above and other objects and advantages in view as willhereinafter appear, this invention comprises the devices, combinationsand arrangements of parts hereinafter described and illustrated in theaccompanying drawing of a preferred embodiment in which:

Fig. 1 represents a side elevational view of a sewing machine rufflingattachment having this invention applied thereto and including afragment of the sewing machine presser bar and needle clamp,

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view taken substantially along line 22 ofFig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the micrometer screw frictioningelement, and Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken substantiallyalong line 44 of Fig. l.

The micrometer adjustment of this invention is illustrated in Fig. 1 ofthe drawing as applied to a rufiing attachment which is conventional inthe art. The attachment comprises a frame including an upturned arm 11formed to embrace a sewing machine presser bar 12 and to be securedthereon. The frame also includes as a body portion 13 supporting ahorizontal fulcrum stud 14 on which is journaled an attachment drivinglever 15 formed to embrace the needle clamp 16 of the sewing machineneedle bar so as to be oscillated thereby to drive the attachment. Alateral arm 17 formed on the body portion 13 of the attachment framesupports a sheet metal clip 18 which serves as a work engaging foot.

A bracket 19 secured to the body portion supports a ply separating blade20. In the operation of the attachment those plies of fabric which arenot to be iufiled are directed beneath the ply separating blade 20 andthe fabric of which the rufiie is to be formed is directed over the plyseparating blade and thus subject to the action of a rufiiing blade 21secured to a rufiiing blade carrier 22 which is guided for endwisereciprocatory motion between the lateral arm 17 of the attachment frameand a guide pin 23 on the frame.

In addition to the drive lever 15, there is also journaled on :thefulcrum stud 14 a pendant link 24 formed at the upper extremity with ashoulder 25 and pivotally connected at the lower extremity to therufiling blade carrier. The drive lever 15 may be operatively connectedwith the pendant link 24 to drive :the pendant link in clockwisedirection, thus shifting the milling blade 21 toward the work engagingfoot to form a pleat or rufiie during the upstroke of the needle bar, bymeans of a pawl 26 working against the shoulder 25 of the pendant link.The pawl 26 is formed on a pawl carrier 27 pivoted loosely on a rivet 28secured on the drive lever. A finger grip portion 29 of the pawl carrieris formed with a plurality of slots 30 to accommodate a lug 31 extendingfrom the drive lever such that the pawl carrier may be held on the drivelever in a selected one of a plurality of angular positions about therivet 28.

In order that the ruflling blade 21 may be retracted on the downstrokeof the needle bar, the drive lever carries an abutment member 32 whichcooperates with a screw 33 threaded in an ear 34 struck out from thepandant link 24- to turn the pendant link in counterclockwise directionon the downstroke of the needle bar. The abutment member 32 ispreferably pivoted, as at 35, to the drive lever and is formed with afinger grip 36 such that it may be turned into a throw-out position outof engagement with the screw 33 to render the milling mechanisminoperative. A stop pin 37 on the drive lever defines the operativeposition of the abutment memher.

The pawl carrier 27 may be adjusted angularly about the rivet 23 toposition the pawl 26 for engagement with the shoulder 25 of the pendantlink 24 on each upstroke of the needle bar, thus providing for theformation of a pleat or ruflle during each stitch forming cycle of thesewing machine. It is also well known in the art of rufiiing attachmentsto provide one or more ratchet wheels 40 journaled loosely on thefulcrum stud 14 alongside the pendant link, the ratchet wheels beingformed each with a difierent number of shallow notches 41 betweensuccessive teeth which will lift the pawl 26 out of engagement with theshoulder 25 of the pendant link and with deep notches 42 which willpermit the pawl to drop into engagement with the shoulder 25. Asillustrated in Fig. 1, one of the ratchet wheels is formed with twodiametrically opposed deep notches 42 of a total of 12 notches. When thepawl carrier is adjusted angularly such that the pawl 26 cooperates withthe ratchet wheel having two deep notches, the attachment will functionto produce a ruflle once during each six stitches. The other ratchetwheel is formed with only a single deep notch such that when cooperatingwith the pawl 26 one ruffle will be produced during each twelvestitches.

The fullness of the rufiie produced by the attachment is determined bythe adjustment of the screw 33 which controls the return motion of therufiiing blade. The screw 33 provides for an advantageous micrometeradjustment of the size of the rufies produced. However, it presents aserious problem in that the screw 33 must be frictionally restrainedsufiiciently to prevent accidental turning of the screw, as for instanceowing to vibration incident to operation of the attachment, yet freeenough so that the screw may be turned readily and conveniently by themachine operator.

In the present invention, frictioning of the screw 33 is accomplished ina novel and highly advantageous manner. The pendant link 24 is formedwith an aperture 58 across which the screw 33 extends. Inserted throughthe aperture 50 from the side of the pendant link opposite the screw 33is a frictioning unit provided with a shank portion 51 which extendsthrough the aperture St The frictioning unit preferably takes the formof a U-shaped loop defining a slot 52 open toward the side of thependant link opposite the screw 33. The free extremity of each limb ofthe U-shaped loop is formed with an outwardly extending flange 53, theflanges together defining a portion of enlarged right cross sectionalarea which will not pass through the aperture 50. More over, the flanges53 provide abutments which are adapted to engage the face of the pendantlink 24 and thereby properly locate the frictioning unit in the aperture50. The frictioning unit is preferably formed of a pliable material suchas nylon, natural or synthetic rubber, or,

the like, such that the aperture 52 in that portion of the shank 51extending through the aperture 50' provides a constricted Openingthrough which the screw 33 may be threaded, the flexible material of thefrictioning unit yielding to accommodate the threads of the screw andgripping the screw to provide the requisite frictioning thereof.

As illustrated in Fig. 3, the frictioning unit has uniform crosssectional configuration and, therefore, may be manufactured convenientlyby an extrusion process, each frictioning unit being severed from acontinuous length oi extruded material.

The frictioning unit is applied to the attachment without the use of anyfastening elements, the looped portion 52 and the adjusting screw beinginterlocked with the flanged abutment 53 preventing separation of thetWo.

The frictioning means of this invention is also advantageous in that itprovides increased support for the adjusting screw 33 to hmit thetendency of the adjusting screw to move sidewise because of clearancebetween the screw threads and the threaded lug 34.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim hereinis:

1. In a sewing machine rufliing attachment having an attachment frame, adriving member, means for shiftably supporting said driving member onsaid frame, means for operatively connecting said driving member to saidsewing machine for oscillation of said driving member in timed relationto the operation of said sewing machine, a driven member, means forshiftably supporting said driven member on said frame, a rtfler blade,means operatively connecting said rufller blade to said driven member,means for operatively connecting said driven member to said drivingmember including an abutment carried on one of said members, a screwthreadedly mounted on the other of said members in position to beengaged by said abutment, and means for imposing a frictional resistanceto turning of said screw comprising, a frictioning unit of pliablematerial having a shank portion formed with an opening snugglyaccommodating said screw and an enlarged portion at one extremity ofsaid shank portion, the member on which said screw is threadedly mountedhaving an aperture formed to accommodate the shank portion of saidfrictioning unit therethrough, said shank portion having a total rightcross sectional area of said pliable. material equal to less than thearea of said aperture and being deformable into a cross sectional shapewithin the, boundaries of said aperture, and said enlarged portionhaving a right cross sectional area larger than the area of saidaperture, and said frictioningunit being disposed with the shank portionextending through said aperture and embracing said screw at the oppositeside of said apertured member from the enlarged portion of saidfrictioning unit.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1 in which the frictioning unit isformed with a uniform transverse cross sectional configuration, saidfrictioning unit thus being severable from a continuous length ofpliable material.

3. A device as set forth in claim 2 in which the shank portion of thefrictioning unit comprises a U-shaped loop having spaced limbssubstantially parallel to a longit-udinal axis of said U shaped loop andinsertable through said aperture to accommodate said screw in theopening defined by said U-shaped loop, and in which the enlarged portioncomprises a flange formed on the free extremity of each limb of theU-shaped loop, said flanges extending outwardly from the openingsubstantial ly perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said U shapedloop and defining abutments adapted to locate said frictioning unitproperly in said aperture.

References Qited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,041,730 Boyer Oct. 22, 1912 2,381,936 Sargent Aug. 14, 1945 2,389,745Russell Nov. 27, 1945 2,439,415 Bloomfield Apr. 13, 1948 2,691,950Russell Oct. 19, 1954 2,836,215 Rapata May 27, 1958

